[Federal Register Volume 72, Number 25 (Wednesday, February 7, 2007)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5740-5741]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E7-1963]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

National Park Service


Notice of Inventory Completion: Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, 
Palo Alto, CA

AGENCY: National Park Service, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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    Notice is here given in accordance with the Native American Graves 
Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGRPA), 25 U.S.C. 3003, of the 
completion of an inventory of human remains and associated funerary 
object in the control of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo, Palo 
Alto, CA. The human remains and associated funerary object were removed 
from an unknown location in the Southwestern United States.
    This notice is published as part of the National Park Service's 
administration responsibilities under NAGPRA, 25 U.S.C. 3003(d)(3). The 
determinations in this notice are the sole responsibility of the 
museum, institution, or Federal agency that has control of the Native 
American human remains and associated funerary object. The National 
Park Service is not responsible for the determinations in this notice.
    A detailed assessment of the human remains was made by the Palo 
Alto Junior Museum and Zoo professional staff with assistance from the 
Anthropological Studies Center, Archaeological Collections Facility, 
Sonoma State University professional staff in consultation with 
representatives of the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak 
Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the 
Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt 
River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, 
Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona.
    At an unknown time, human remains representing a minimum of one 
individual were removed from an unknown location in the Southwestern 
United States. The human remains were donated at an unknown time by an 
unknown donor to the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo. No known 
individual was identified. The one associated funerary object is a 
cremation urn.
    The antiquity of the human remains is unknown. No testing has been 
performed. The age, sex, and ethnicity of the individual are unknown 
due to the thoroughness of the cremation process. However, the 
cremation urn associated with the individual has been identified as 
Hohokam. The cremation urn is made of buffware ceramic with an exterior 
design traditional to the Hohokam tribe of the Southwestern United 
States.
    Archeological evidence has demonstrated a strong relationship of 
shared group identity between the Hohokam and the present-day O'odham 
(Pima and Papago) and Hopi. The O'odham people are currently 
represented by the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila 
River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian 
Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham 
Nation of Arizona. In 1990, representatives of the Ak Chin Indian 
Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila 
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; and Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona issued a 
joint policy statement claiming ancestral ties to the Hohokam cultural 
traditions.
    Hopi oral tradition places the origins of their Patki, Sun, Sand, 
Corn, and Tobacco Clans south of the Colorado plateau. While Hopi oral 
traditions do not identify specific locations, some of the descriptions 
are consistent with Hohokam settlements in central Arizona during the 
Classic period. O'odham oral traditions indicate that some of the 
Hohokam people migrated north and joined the Hopi. In 1994, 
representatives of the Hopi Tribe of Arizona issued a statement 
claiming cultural affiliation with Hohokam cultural traditions.
    The oral traditions of the Zuni mention Hawikuh, a Zuni community, 
as a destination of settlers from the Hohokam area. Zuni language, 
prayers, and rituals used by the Zuni Shu maakwe medicine society have

[[Page 5741]]

descended from the Hohokam. In 1995, representatives of the Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico issued a statement claiming 
cultural affiliation with the Hohokam cultural traditions.
    Based on consultation with the tribes and the available 
archeological evidence, officials of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and 
Zoo reasonably believe that the human remains are of Native American 
ancestry, specifically Hohokam. There is no further museum 
documentation on the human remains and associated funerary object.
    Descendants of the Hohokam, Papago, and Pima are members of the 
present-day Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico.
    Officials of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo have determined 
that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (9-10), the human remains described 
above represent the physical remains of one individual of Native 
American ancestry. Officials of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo 
also have determined that, pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (3)(A), the one 
associated funerary object described above is reasonably believed to 
have been placed with or near individual human remains at the time of 
death or later as part of the death rite or ceremony. Lastly, the 
officials of the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo have determined that, 
pursuant to 25 U.S.C. 3001 (2), there is a relationship of shared group 
identity that can be reasonably traced between the human remains and 
associated funerary object and the Ak Chin Indian Community of the 
Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian 
Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of 
Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River 
Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe 
of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico.
    Representatives of any other Indian tribe that believes itself to 
be culturally affiliated with the human remains and associated funerary 
object described above should contact Robert De Geus, Recreation and 
Youth Service's Division Manager, 1305 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto, CA 
94301, telephone (650) 463-4908, before March 9, 2007. Repatriation of 
the human remains and associated funerary object to the Ak Chin Indian 
Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian Reservation, Arizona; Gila 
River Indian Community of the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona; 
Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community of the 
Salt River Reservation, Arizona; Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and 
Zuni Tribe of the Zuni Reservation, New Mexico may proceed after that 
date if no additional claimants come forward.
    The Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo is responsible for notifying 
the Ak Chin Indian Community of the Maricopa (Ak Chin) Indian 
Reservation, Arizona; Gila River Indian Community of the Gila River 
Indian Reservation, Arizona; Hopi Tribe of Arizona; Salt River Pima-
Maricopa Indian Community of the Salt River Reservation, Arizona; 
Tohono O'odham Nation of Arizona; and Zuni Tribe of the Zuni 
Reservation, New Mexico that this notice has been published.

    Dated: December 14, 2006.
Sherry Hutt,
Manager, National NAGPRA Program.
[FR Doc. E7-1963 Filed 2-6-07; 8:45 am]
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